Equal parts touching, sad and inspiring.

Definitely worth a watch.

And here’s the text…

Mrs. Kennedy, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy. The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the U.S. Senate – a man whose name graces nearly one thousand laws, and who penned more than three hundred himself.

But those of us who loved him, and ache with his passing, know Ted Kennedy by the other titles he held: Father. Brother. Husband. Uncle Teddy, or as he was often known to his younger nieces and nephews, “The Grand Fromage,” or “The Big Cheese.” I, like so many others in the city where he worked for nearly half a century, knew him as a colleague, a mentor, and above all, a friend.

Ted Kennedy was the baby of the family who became its patriarch; the restless dreamer who became its rock. He was the sunny, joyful child, who bore the brunt of his brothers’ teasing, but learned quickly how to brush it off. When they tossed him off a boat because he didn’t know what a jib was, six-year-old Teddy got back in and learned to sail. When a photographer asked the newly-elected Bobby to step back at a press conference because he was casting a shadow on his younger brother, Teddy quipped, “It’ll be the same in Washington.”

This spirit of resilience and good humor would see Ted Kennedy through more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know. He lost two siblings by the age of sixteen. He saw two more taken violently from the country that loved them. He said goodbye to his beloved sister, Eunice, in the final days of his own life. He narrowly survived a plane crash, watched two children struggle with cancer, buried three nephews, and experienced personal failings and setbacks in the most public way possible.

It is a string of events that would have broken a lesser man. And it would have been easy for Teddy to let himself become bitter and hardened; to surrender to self-pity and regret; to retreat from public life and live out his years in peaceful quiet. No one would have blamed him for that.

But that was not Ted Kennedy. As he told us, “…[I]ndividual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in – and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves.” Indeed, Ted was the “Happy Warrior” that the poet William Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote:

As tempted more; more able to endure,
As more exposed to suffering and distress;
Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.

Through his own suffering, Ted Kennedy became more alive to the plight and suffering of others – the sick child who could not see a doctor; the young soldier sent to battle without armor; the citizen denied her rights because of what she looks like or who she loves or where she comes from. The landmark laws that he championed — the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, immigration reform, children’s health care, the Family and Medical Leave Act -all have a running thread. Ted Kennedy’s life’s work was not to champion those with wealth or power or special connections. It was to give a voice to those who were not heard; to add a rung to the ladder of opportunity; to make real the dream of our founding. He was given the gift of time that his brothers were not, and he used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow.

We can still hear his voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers’ rights or civil rights. And yet, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did. While he was seen by his fiercest critics as a partisan lightning rod, that is not the prism through which Ted Kennedy saw the world, nor was it the prism through which his colleagues saw him. He was a product of an age when the joy and nobility of politics prevented differences of party and philosophy from becoming barriers to cooperation and mutual respect – a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots.

And that’s how Ted Kennedy became the greatest legislator of our time. He did it by hewing to principle, but also by seeking compromise and common cause – not through deal-making and horse-trading alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor. There was the time he courted Orrin Hatch’s support for the Children’s Health Insurance Program by having his Chief of Staff serenade the Senator with a song Orrin had written himself; the time he delivered shamrock cookies on a china plate to sweeten up a crusty Republican colleague; and the famous story of how he won the support of a Texas Committee Chairman on an immigration bill. Teddy walked into a meeting with a plain manila envelope, and showed only the Chairman that it was filled with the Texan’s favorite cigars. When the negotiations were going well, he would inch the envelope closer to the Chairman. When they weren’t, he would pull it back. Before long, the deal was done.

It was only a few years ago, on St. Patrick’s Day, when Teddy buttonholed me on the floor of the Senate for my support on a certain piece of legislation that was coming up for vote. I gave him my pledge, but expressed my skepticism that it would pass. But when the roll call was over, the bill garnered the votes it needed, and then some. I looked at Teddy with astonishment and asked how he had pulled it off. He just patted me on the back, and said “Luck of the Irish!”

Of course, luck had little to do with Ted Kennedy’s legislative success, and he knew that. A few years ago, his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time. Without missing a beat, Teddy replied, “What did Webster do?”

But though it is Ted Kennedy’s historic body of achievements we will remember, it is his giving heart that we will miss. It was the friend and colleague who was always the first to pick up the phone and say, “I’m sorry for your loss,” or “I hope you feel better,” or “What can I do to help?” It was the boss who was so adored by his staff that over five hundred spanning five decades showed up for his 75th birthday party. It was the man who sent birthday wishes and thank you notes and even his own paintings to so many who never imagined that a U.S. Senator would take the time to think about someone like them. I have one of those paintings in my private study – a Cape Cod seascape that was a gift to a freshman legislator who happened to admire it when Ted Kennedy welcomed him into his office the first week he arrived in Washington; by the way, that’s my second favorite gift from Teddy and Vicki after our dog Bo. And it seems like everyone has one of those stories – the ones that often start with “You wouldn’t believe who called me today.”

Ted Kennedy was the father who looked after not only his own three children, but John’s and Bobby’s as well. He took them camping and taught them to sail. He laughed and danced with them at birthdays and weddings; cried and mourned with them through hardship and tragedy; and passed on that same sense of service and selflessness that his parents had instilled in him. Shortly after Ted walked Caroline down the aisle and gave her away at the altar, he received a note from Jackie that read, “On you the carefree youngest brother fell a burden a hero would have begged to be spared. We are all going to make it because you were always there with your love.”

Not only did the Kennedy family make it because of Ted’s love – he made it because of theirs; and especially because of the love and the life he found in Vicki. After so much loss and so much sorrow, it could not have been easy for Ted Kennedy to risk his heart again. That he did is a testament to how deeply he loved this remarkable woman from Louisiana. And she didn’t just love him back. As Ted would often acknowledge, Vicki saved him. She gave him strength and purpose; joy and friendship; and stood by him always, especially in those last, hardest days.

We cannot know for certain how long we have here. We cannot foresee the trials or misfortunes that will test us along the way. We cannot know God’s plan for us.

What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and love, and joy. We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them, and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves. We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures. And we can strive at all costs to make a better world, so that someday, if we are blessed with the chance to look back on our time here, we can know that we spent it well; that we made a difference; that our fleeting presence had a lasting impact on the lives of other human beings.

This is how Ted Kennedy lived. This is his legacy. He once said of his brother Bobby that he need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, and I imagine he would say the same about himself. The greatest expectations were placed upon Ted Kennedy’s shoulders because of who he was, but he surpassed them all because of who he became. We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office. We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy – not for the sake of ambition or vanity; not for wealth or power; but only for the people and the country he loved.

In the days after September 11th, Teddy made it a point to personally call each one of the 177 families of this state who lost a loved one in the attack. But he didn’t stop there. He kept calling and checking up on them. He fought through red tape to get them assistance and grief counseling. He invited them sailing, played with their children, and would write each family a letter whenever the anniversary of that terrible day came along. To one widow, he wrote the following:

“As you know so well, the passage of time never really heals the tragic memory of such a great loss, but we carry on, because we have to, because our loved one would want us to, and because there is still light to guide us in the world from the love they gave us.”

We carry on.

Ted Kennedy has gone home now, guided by his faith and by the light of those he has loved and lost. At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image – the image of a man on a boat; white mane tousled; smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for what storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon. May God Bless Ted Kennedy, and may he rest in eternal peace.

Rest in peace Teddy.

Just got word from the net that they bumped it up given Teddy’s death last night.

If you want to see a preview, click here.

I know that Justin already posted about this, but I wanted to add my two coppers.

I didn’t always agree with Senator Kennedy — both in politics, and in personality — but I have a respect for the man and what he accomplished in his many years in public service. Politico:

His career spanned almost a half-century of American history, and covering Kennedy was like a relay race, in which those who knew him best in the early years have long ago retired.

Education and healthcare initiatives will always be associated with his name, and the enactment this year of legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco is a Kennedy legacy. But this was also a senator who played a major role in airline deregulation, criminal code revisions and battles over the Supreme Court. Conservatives still resent him for his wholesale assault on Robert Bork’s nomination in 1987, and Kennedy is one of the few senators in history to see a former aide, Stephen Breyer, move up to the high bench.

Kennedy’s power base rested on three major committees: Judiciary; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and Armed Services, the first two of which he chaired at different points in his career. And he never lost an old-school style of politics, which set him apart in the increasingly impersonal Senate.

His booming voice filled the chamber when he spoke from his desk, always in the back row on the Democratic side and a gathering point over the years for younger members.

I know that there are many conservative partisans who still gleefully cite the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident anytime that Kennedy’s name is brought up — and I get that. However, I think that Ted Kennedy’s legacy will not be controversial issues like Chappaquiddick but rather things like children’s health care, his support for Barack Obama’s candidacy for president, and the various Senate committees on which he served.

The man was truly a larger-than-life character and I’m sure that the halls of the Senate will be a very different place when Congress returns from it’s recess.

The brain cancer finally caught up with him at age 77.

Some more from ABC:

Kennedy was first elected to the Senate in 1962, at the age of 30, and his tenure there would span four decades.

A hardworking, well-liked politician who became the standard-bearer of his brothers’ liberal causes, his career was clouded by allegations of personal immorality and accusations that his family’s clout helped him avoid the consequences of an accident that left a young woman dead.

But for the younger members of the Kennedy clan, from his own three children to those of his brothers JFK and RFK, Ted Kennedy — once seen as the youngest and least talented in a family of glamorous overachievers — was both a surrogate father and the center of the family.

And certainly it was Ted Kennedy who bore many of the tragedies of the family — the violent deaths of four of his siblings, his son’s battle with cancer, and the death of his nephew John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash.

He will be missed.

Whether you love them or hate them (it’s hard to be indifferent), there’s no doubt that the Kennedy brothers are still the people you think of first when talking about political dynasties.

MSNBC has put together a documentary of John, Bobby and Teddy and it’s set to air soon.

Here’s a preview of some of the interviews they got…

As I said, love them or hate them, if you’re a history geek like me you’ll be tuning in.

(Hat tip: Politico.com)

Dame Caroline of Camelot finally sat down with several major media outlets over the past few days, presumably to counter growing criticism of her running away from questions and saying little or nothing about the issues that will come before the Senate she wants to join.

At her sit-down with The New York Times, she got testy about the questions she was asked.  Reactions in the rest of the media — print, broadcast and online — was, to be generous, less than enthusiastic.  New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin delivered this especially blunt assessment:

But a strange thing is happening on the way to the coronation. The wheels of the bandwagon are coming off. Fantasy is giving way to inescapable truth.

That truth is that Kennedy is not ready for the job and doesn’t deserve it. Somebody who loves her should tell her.

Her quest is becoming a cringe-inducing experience, as painful to watch as it must be to endure. Because she is the only survivor of that dreamy time nearly 50 years ago, she remains an iconic figure. But in the last few days, her mini-campaign has proved she has little to offer New Yorkers except her name.

The YouTube video above is actually the audio of portions of one of her interviews.  In a way, I wish it were different, but I’ve listened to hundreds of office seekers in my time and, IMHO, compared to many of them, Dame Caroline seems uninformed, uninterested, uninteresting, and at times incoherent.

Listen to it and judge for yourself.

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Caroline Kennedy, seeking appointment to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, has a spotty voting record. From Boston.com:

According to city Board of Elections records, she missed Democratic mayoral primaries in 1989, 1993, 1997, and 2005.

She also missed the 2002 gubernatorial primary and general election, when Democrat H. Carl McCall lost to Republican incumbent George Pataki.

She skipped the 1994 general election, when Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was running for reelection for the same seat she hopes to take over if Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state.

The Daily News investigated a bit further:

Most of the time, she voted, aides said. A review by The News found that of the 38 contested elections since 1988, Kennedy skipped about half, almost all of them primaries.

Her spokesman Stefan Friedman tried to put it in a positive light.

Caroline Kennedy recognizes just how important it is to vote and has a very strong record of going to the polls,” spokesman Stefan Friedman said. “She has not voted on a handful of occasions over the last two decades.”

Half is a big handfull. Nevertheless, the daughter of a President and member of one of the most political families in the country should rarely miss a poll date. It raises some questions about her commitment to the electoral process.

At one time in the 1980’s she was not even on the voting rolls. Earlier in the decade, she was registered in Massachusetts, and then moved to New York.

She later switched her voting address to her mother’s old apartment on Fifth Ave., but apparently fell off the rolls completely sometime in the 1980s.

When she went to reregister in 1988 at her new Park Ave. home, she filled in “1984?”, when asked the year she had last registered.

That type of long-term apathy is hard to explain away.

(from Foolocracy.com)

As Caroline Kennedy made a pilgrimage to Harlem to lunch with Rev. Al Sharpton, her rivalry with Cuomo scion Andrew, who is currently serving as New York State Attorney General until he can find a higher office, heated up.

Kennedy actually answered a couple of reporters’ questions in a sidewalk press availability, after munching with Rev. Al at Sylvia’s, in contrast to her first foray as a candidate yesterday when she ran pell mell for her car to escape from inquisitive ink-stained wretches.

Governor David Patterson, who will appoint someone to fill Hillary Clinton’s seat in a month or so, disclosed that he has talked with Cuomo about the Senate spot, although he refused to say in so many words whether the former Governor’s son asked him for it.

Meanwhile, two statewide polls were released showing Kennedy and Cuomo running neck and neck in the opinion of the state’s voters, who unluckily have no say in the matter.  A Siena College survey had Cuomo edging the Camelot Princess 26% to 23%, while a new Marist poll has them tied at 25% a piece.  No one else scored above single digits although the combined total of those not choosing neither the heiress nor the heir amounted obviously to about half those surveyed.

The word circulating among some newsies is that Kennedy has the job, if she wants it.  Since she has said she does want it, though, it’s hard to see why Patterson is personally throwing Cuomo’s name out now, when he hadn’t before.  I still think it’s up in the air, although Patterson is getting a lot of public and private pressure to appoint Kennedy.

Why?  Because Kennedy in the Senate now is a plus for Patterson only in the sense that her presence on the ticket in 2010 might help Patterson win election to a full term against a tough opponent like Rudy Giuliani.  That’s nice, but leaving Andrew in the AG slot — and snubbing him in favor of his ex-cousin-in-law who has never held public office, run for anything, or even held much of any job — might well mean that Cuomo would challenge Patterson in a primary. Patterson is an accidental governor, beset by mountains of troubles. If you had to bet today who would win that primary, Cuomo would be the better bet.  Appoint him to the Senate and, presto, one of your biggest problems goes away.

Would Kennedy and her extended clan, political support infrastructure and fundraising machine be harnessed to help David vs. Andrew?  Maybe, but Patterson probably doesn’t believe in the tooth fairy either.

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My lady of Camelot, I know I speak for all respectable persons residing in the outer provinces when I say how deeply shocked we are by the offensive manner in which your ladyship was received by that pack of louts who badgered you with impertinent questions during your progress through those parts. I hope you will not think me too bold if I say that such wretches — my goodness, not one of them had the self-respect to wear a decent suit of clothes — should learn how to behave in the company of their betters. Your exceptional grace and bearing were at all times on display throughout this trial, a testament to the greatness of your noble family.

That big ruffian, the one with the loud voice who fairly shouted at your ladyship, particularly ought to get a good thrashing, and many’s the decent stout fellow, I’m sure, even in the outer provinces, would be delighted to give the villain what for, if you don’t mind my saying, my lady.

I know I am probably speaking out of turn, my lady, but rest assured that the common folk — the decent, respectable common folk — are not the least interested in prying into your ladyship’s opinions about the economy, taxes, the environment, health care, wars and all such matters of state, which are properly none of our business. Those are matters for your ladyship to concern herself with. I feel bound to say that the good citizens of this fair realm feel a deep bond of loyaty to your ladyship and trust implicitly that these great affairs will be in capable hands.

I am especially taken aback by the inquisitiveness of those low persons about your views on the various local farming and industrial affairs of the outer provinces. Surely no great personage such as your ladyship can be expected to be mistress of all such folderol.

Thank you so much, my lady, for enduring so much on our behalf with your usual grace and bearing. Whenever you plan another progress through such remote and rustic settlements as Utica, Watertown and, heaven help us, Horseheads, please don’t hesitate to call upon me, your humble servant.

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